The Chemistry of Coal
Author: Mark Roland
Edited by Debbie Gevirtzman and Stephanie Nardei
Time:
3 Class Periods
Preparation
None
Time:
Materials:
Websites, listed below
Abstract
This lesson serves as a review of conservation of mass, simple reactions and equation balancing.
During the lesson, students will research chemical components of coal, as well as environmental
health impacts of mining and burning coal.
Objectives
Students will be able to:
1. List some of the major chemical components of coal.
2. Based on review of the mass conservation, determine the products of coal combustion.
3. Articulate connections between coal combustion products and environmental health issues in
a written form.
National Science Education Standard:
Content Standard B-Physical Science
CHEMICAL REACTIONS

Chemical reactions occur all around us, for example in health care, cooking,
cosmetics, and automobiles. Complex chemical reactions involving carbon-based
molecules take place constantly in every cell in our bodies.

Chemical reactions may release or consume energy. Some reactions such as the
burning of fossil fuels, release large amounts of energy by losing heat and by
emitting light. Light can initiate many chemical reactions such as photosynthesis
and the evolution of urban smog.
Content Standard F-Science in Personal and Social Perspectives
NATURAL RESOURCES

Human populations use resources in the environment in order to maintain and
improve their existence. Natural resources have been and will continue to be used
to maintain human populations.

The earth does not have infinite resources; increasing human consumption places
severe stress on the natural processes that renew some resources, and it depletes
those resources that cannot be renewed.
ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY

Natural ecosystems provide an array of basic processes that affect humans. Those
processes include maintenance of the quality of the atmosphere, generation of
soils, control of the hydrologic cycle, disposal of wastes, and recycling of nutrients.
Humans are changing many of these basic processes, and the changes may be
detrimental to humans.

Materials from human societies affect both physical and chemical cycles of the
earth.

Many factors influence environmental quality. Factors that students might
investigate include population growth, resource use, population distribution, over
consumption, the capacity of technology to solve problems, poverty, the role of
economic, political, and religious views, and different ways humans view the earth.
Teacher Background
http://library.thinkquest.org/10429/high/balequa/balbody.htm?tqskip1=1#bal (Balancing
information)
http://bc.barnard.columbia.edu/~schapman/bc1601/balcomb.htm (Balancing combustion
reactions tutorial)
Related and Resource Websites
http://www.wfu.edu/~ylwong/balanceeq/combust.html (Balancing equations)
http://www.steel.org/learning/howmade/coal.htm (Coal classifications)
http://www.wci-coal.com/web/bl_content.php?menu_id=2.0 (World Coal Institute)
http://mccoy.lib.siu.edu/projects/crelling2/atlas/macerals/mactut.html (Coal macerals)
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5174391/ (MSNBC article on coal)
Activity
Day 1
1. As students enter the classroom, have questions posted them to respond:
a.
What is meant by the conservation of mass? (Hint-balancing chemical equations)
b.
Balance these equations:
_ CH 4  _ O2  _ CO2  _ H 2O
_ C2 H 4  _ O2  _ CO2  _ H 2O
_ C2 H 7 S  _ O2  _ CO2  _ H 2 O  _ SO2
c.
These are all combustion reactions with organic compounds. What two products
are always formed from the combustion of organic compounds?
2. Review answers to assigned questions. The last equation may be difficult for students. Try
practicing more equations, if necessary. There is a balancing equations website with
interactive practice (see Related and Resource Websites).
3. Discuss again the idea of mass conservation. Look at products for last equation to be
balanced. If another atom of sulfur was present in the reactant, how would this effect the
balanced equation? Have the students re-balance the equation with another sulfur atom:
_ C2 H 7 S 2  _ O2  _ CO2  _ H 2 O  _ SO2
4. In general, combustion reactions are all very similar, producing carbon dioxide and water.
Other products depend on other present elements. Sulfur will produce sulfur dioxide.
Nitrogen will produce nitrogen dioxide or nitrogen monoxide. Coal is a very complex
substance containing countless compounds. This discussion of mass conservation will help
students understand products of coal combustion based on relative elemental composition.
5. Allow students to have the remainder of the class to begin researching coal. Here are
questions to guide them: NOTE: Most teachers will need computer lab for an entire class
for Internet research.
a.
What is coal composed of?
b.
What names are used in classifying coal? Describe their meanings.
c.
What compounds are created through coal combustion? Are there other coal
components that might not combust?
Students begin by using websites labeled coal classification, World Coal Institute, and
coal macerals (see Related and Resource websites). These websites are a good
starting place but encourage students to look elsewhere.
6. Discuss and summarize class findings. When discussing the compounds created by coal
combustion ask questions to get an idea of students’ previous knowledge about environmental
health concerns, because they will be researching these next.
Day 2 and 3
1.
The discussion from the end of Day 1 might need to be completed at the beginning of
Day 2. Otherwise, review some of ideas from Day 1.
2.
In preparation for the lesson ‘s final project, a short paper on the potential environmental
health impacts of coal combustion products, begin to gauge how much experience your
students have had with research, especially Internet. Discuss search engines, keyword
searching, and evaluating credible sources. Try allowing students to independently
research today, helping them when necessary.
3. Ask students to research potential environmental health impacts of coal combustion
products. A massive amount of information is available on these topics, so two days are
given for students to sort through it all. As stated before, this is a chance for them to
have guided practice with technical Internet research. Monitor the class closely to ensure
they are on-task, finding reliable information, and refining their search as necessary.
Otherwise, allow them freedom in researching information satisfying their curiosity and
answering their own questions.
4. As students finish their research, they should begin to write their papers. Direct students
to write a one to two page paper describing potential health impacts of coal combustion
products. As much as possible students should refer to the chemical components.
Embedded Assignment
Some ideas for grading the paper:
1.
Is the paper well organized, with an introduction, body, and conclusion?
2.
Does the student reference information properly?
3.
Are the sources used reliable? If they are slanted, does the student present the
information as fact when it might not be?
4.
Are opinions on the environmental health impacts of coal backed with factual research?
Homework
The short paper on the environmental health impacts of coal combustion will need to be
completed at home.